Germany: ICRC Hands Over Management Of ITS

Geneva (ICRC)
–The ICRC is to hand over management of the International
Tracing Service in Bad Arolsen to the German Federal
Archives after over half a century. The ITS was founded in
1943 to provide answers to millions of families who had lost
touch with relatives during the Second World War.

Speaking at the ITS on 29 November, ICRC president Peter
Maurer explained that "The ICRC is handing over management
of the ITS, but we’re not leaving it." He stressed that
the ICRC would remain in regular contact with the ITS,
through its Central Tracing Agency in Geneva, tracing
agencies in ICRC delegations, and the tracing services of
national Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies around the
world. The ICRC will continue to provide its technical
expertise, helping the ITS serve the victims of Nazi
persecution and their families.

“The ITS strives to be
of service to people,” Maurer added. “Yes, it possesses
archives, but those archives reflect human beings and the
unthinkable suffering of so many millions during the Second
World War and beyond.”

Indeed, the archives cover
civilians detained in Nazi concentration or labour camps and
people who had to flee their homes because of the Second
World War. They house over 50 million card files relating to
more than 17.5 million civilians persecuted by the Nazis.

Ever since its creation, the ITS has been governed by the
11-nation International Commission for the International
Tracing Service (ICITS) under the 1955 Bonn Agreement and
its 2006 Protocols. The following countries are members of
the Commission: Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Israel,
Italy, Luxemburg, Netherlands, Poland, the United Kingdom
and the United States. Since 1955, the ICRC has managed the
ITS on behalf of the ICITS, as a neutral and independent
supervisory body.

As the mission of the ITS has now
extended beyond purely humanitarian work to englobe
research, management of the Service will be handed over on 1
January 2013 to the German Federal Archives (Bundesarchiv)
and the International Commission has appointed a new
director, history professor Rebecca Boehling, who will
continue and develop the work of the past five decades.
ENDS

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